Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market advanced on higher commodity prices Thursday, but not enough to make up for ground lost earlier this week amid worries over European debt and hostilities between the Koreas.

The S&P/ TSX composite index was up 43.82 points at 12,945.81, still more than 10 points shy of last Friday’s close at 12,956.33.

The TSX Venture Exchange added 25.43 points to 2,049.01.

Thursday saw low volumes of overall trading, with little direction coming from south of the border where markets were shuttered for U.S. Thanksgiving.

The financial and information technology sectors led TSX advancers, while mining stocks fell into the red.

The Canadian dollar added 0.14 of a cent to 99.04 cents US.

Oil was up 32 cents at US$84.18 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The December gold contract added $1.40 to US$1374.40 an ounce, while copper was rose three cents to US$3.79 a pound.

Trading is typically light in Toronto when the major New York markets are closed and the TSX tends to remain flat, said Garey Aitken, director of equity research at Bissett Investments in Calgary.

But Thursday’s slight rise was a continuation of a more positive trend that was interrupted earlier this week by renewed concerns over European debt and tensions between the Koreas, he added.

“Once (those recent events) move away from the headlines, the trend is for equity markets to move higher,” Aitken said.

“We saw that in U.S. equity market trade (Wednesday) before U.S. Thanksgiving, on better than expected employment numbers, so what we’re seeing here is just a follow through in Canada.”

U.S. markets will close in the early afternoon Friday and trading is expected to remain slow as American traders take a Thanksgiving holiday.

The financial sector led Thursday’s moderate advance, up 0.6% ahead of fourth-quarter earnings from Canada’s big five banks slated for release next week. National Bank (TSX:NA) led its peers with a 90-cent increase in stock price to $68.02.

Information technology stocks were up 0.15%. Shares in market heavyweight Research In Motion (TSX:RIM) rose 42 cents to $60.63 after it announced a deal to increase distribution of its signature BlackBerry in the Mideast.

Energy stocks gained on higher oil prices, with shares of Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU) up 16 cents at $34.55.

Shares of pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB) fell 17 cents to $56.64.

Privately held Genalta Power Inc. said Enbridge would purchase an unspecified but “significant” equity position in the Calgary-based green energy company.

The mining sector was a drag on the TSX, down 0.3% despite higher copper prices and rising uranium stocks.

Taseko Mines Ltd. (TSX:TKO), a Vancouver-based miner at the centre of a controversy surrounding recent wild swings in its stock price, saw its shares rise nine cents to $4.67.

A CBC news report on Wednesday raised questions about unusually heavy trading in Taseko shares on Oct. 14 — about 2 1/2 weeks before the Vancouver company was denied federal approval for its planned Prosperity mine.

The value of Taseko’s shares fell 25% the day after the federal announcement on Nov. 2 and have since continued to trade well below the pre-announcement level.

Elsewhere in the mining sector, uranium stocks gained momentum.

Shares of Cameco Corp. (TSX:CCO) were up 60 cents at $38.18 Thursday, a day after it announced it had signed an agreement to supply 13 million kilograms of uranium to China.

Uranium One Inc. (TSX:UUU) was up 10%, or 48 cents, to $5.45 after receiving final regulatory approval to sell a controlling interest in the company to Russia’s state-owned ARMZ.

In other corporate news, Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings (TSX:XRS) enjoyed a 19% stock boost following a Wednesday announcement that its subsidiary XM Canada would merge with privately-held rival Sirius Canada. Shares were up 70 cents to $4.45.

Investors also digested a Statistics Canada report that showed stronger average weekly earnings in September — the second straight month with year-over-year growth over 4%.

Non-farm payrolls were up 4.3% from a year earlier to $864.13 per week. The pace of growth in earnings has been increasing in recent months.

That could be good news for retailers heading into the crucial holiday sales period and could further influence the Bank of Canada to consider raising interest rates sooner rather than later following reports of growing inflation and retail sales earlier this week.

On Wednesday, the TSX jumped 108 points to 12,902 on a resurgence in commodity prices that had been beaten down earlier in the week over economic concerns and fears of war in Korea.

The boost came mostly from figures Wednesday showing a sharp drop in weekly U.S. jobless claims and encouraging consumer confidence figures ahead of the crucial Christmas shopping season.

Global stocks continued their rally Thursday following upbeat U.S. unemployment figures but the euro remained near two-month lows amid concerns that Europe’s debt crisis could soon embroil Portugal or, more dangerously, Spain.

European Union and International Monetary Fund experts negotiating an estimated euro85 billion (US$115 billion) bailout for Ireland have demanded that the country make binding commitments to slash its deficit — now the worst in Europe — as a condition of any aid.

To that end, Ireland unveiled Wednesday a plan to cut 15 billion euros (US$20 billion) from its deficits through 2014, starting with the 2011 budget, which the government will present to parliament on Dec. 7.